Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 368(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
He scoffs. “I’d like to see you try. I was holding back before.”
Turning, he waves off the onlookers. “Show’s over.”
They don’t move.
“I said get the fuck out of here!” Chance yells.
They disperse and only Chance, Lexie, and Amanda remain, the rustling of the wind through the nearby pines and crickets chirping fill the air.
“You may be the size of Mount Rainier, but I grew up dodging the drug gangs in Beacon Hill, and I’ve been in a few bar fights in my day, which I’m betting you haven’t,” I tell him. “I can take you easy.”
“Just stop it, both of you,” a blond woman—Lexie, if I recall correctly—says.
Right. Lexie. In fact, she works for Chance. Us. A vet.
“Stay out of this, Lex,” Chance says.
“No.” She steps close. “You can fire me if you want to, Chance, but I’m going to say something here. I realized something today as I watched Carly work. I went easy on her, it being her first day and all. Let her feed the puppies. I was wrong to do that. Dead wrong.”
“What the fuck is she talking about?” I demand. “What’s wrong with Carly?”
I can’t think of a single thing.
“That’s just it,” Lexie continues. “There’s nothing wrong with Carly. She’s a lovely young woman who’s had some bad luck. Really bad luck. But she’s healing, and—”
Healing? Jesus, she’s sick, too?
A sick mother and a sick girlfriend?
But Carly’s not my girlfriend…
I barely know her, except that she runs hot for me and is so easily aroused that she’d have come after a few more seconds if Chance hadn’t disturbed us.
Still, concern for her wellbeing overwhelms me and threatens to rip my heart right out of my chest. I don’t understand this emotion, this… protectiveness. It’s swift and fierce. I protect all women, but this feeling for Carly’s different. More.
“That’s just it,” Chance says. “She needs more than the one nighter my so-called brother plans to offer her.”
That’s what I want. Wanted. Still, I don’t like the way it sounds when Chance mentions it. I had my fingers inside her. Felt the way she came alive around them. I’m not sure any longer that a quickie against the side of the bar will be enough.
“Isn’t that for her to say?” Lexie asks. “And so what if she does? Can’t a woman—even Carly—want a little fun?”
“Wait, wait, wait,” another woman intervenes—Amanda, I think. She tucks her hair behind her ear. “This isn’t right. I don’t know Carly very well, but I don’t think she’d be at all comfortable with the three of you talking about her like this when she isn’t here.”
I nod. Finally, someone with a level head. “You’re right. But you need to tell me one thing. Please. What is Carly healing from? Did she have cancer or something?”
Silence.
I swear to God I could hear a freaking pin drop.
“What? I know I just met her, but I like her. I’m concerned. How sick was she?”
I glance at Amanda first.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. I’m new in town, and I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
Lexie and Chance exchange glances.
Impatience rears its head. “I’ll never hit a woman,” I say, “Ever. Chance, though, I swear to God I’ll give you the ass-whooping of a lifetime if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”
Chance opens his mouth, but Lexie grabs his arm and shakes her head.
“No, Chance. It’s not your story to tell.”
“Damn it!” I raise my fist. “If she’s sick, I need to know. I want to help her.”
“She’s not sick,” Lexie says quietly. “She’s just been through some…stuff.”
“She’s—”
Lexie cuts Chance off again. “No, Chance.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” I thread my fingers through my hair and leave them behind, stalking back into the bar. There’s got to be someone who will tell me—
Then I see her.
Carly.
Walking out of the ladies’ room, her face red and tear streaked, even in the bar’s dim lighting.
Funny. The bar’s nearly empty now. Where did everyone go? And why?
I walk slowly toward Carly. She doesn’t run off, so that’s a good sign. My fingers are still wet from her pussy, but I’m well aware that the fun’s over. “Hey. You okay?”
She nods, trying to look everywhere but at me. “Fine. I’m getting out of here.”
“Okay. I’ll take you home.”
She shakes her head. “No. Lexie’s the designated driver. She’ll take me.”
“She’s still outside,” I explain.
Carly inhales a deep breath. “I just wish…”
“What? What do you wish, Carly?”
“That things were different.” She chews on her lower lip. “I should have never come back to Bayfield. It made sense at the time, but I should have gone somewhere new, where I could reinvent myself. Where no one knows…”
My fingers itch. They itch to reach toward her, stroke her soft cheek. To wipe away the remnants of her tears. To caress her swollen lips, the fine curves of her neck. To continue where we were interrupted and see her let go.